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New fun on the way!

Short and sweet blog tonight gang!
We have LOTS of activity at our super secret headquarters. What?
Well, it’s tip top secret! I can say that one of our regular characters is getting a pal.

Wump Mucket Puppets Terrence Burke cutting fabric for puppet

Not only will we have a new puppet at the February 16th show at Happen, Inc, we’ll have a new tune for Coleman to sing, a new game for Cyril to play with the audience, and lots of fun and laughs for new members of our audience. Our regulars all know that the Wump Mucket Puppets R-O-C-K!(that’s why they keep coming to our shows)

Wump Mucket Puppets Facebook 300 quest continues!

Wump Mucket Puppets Coleman the Sasquatch and Eleanor

We are pulling out all the stops tonight! Coleman has called in his number one fan, Eleanor Burke, to make a video to help the Wump Mucket Puppets reach and BEAT their goal of 300 likes on the official Wump Mucket Puppets Facebook page. Not only will the 300th person to like our page have a tune recorded on video for them to show the whole wide world that they are pals with the wacky (yet wholesome) Wump Mucket Puppets, but we will throw in this incredible pack of Anastasi trading cards:

Really folks, this is going to be lots of fun! We are trying to reach 300 (more would be fantastic!) likes on the Wump Mucket Puppets Facebook page. To entice new pals we are offering a FUN-TASTIC prize of a custom made video tune for the winner to share their good taste in puppet troupes with the whole wide world!

Coleman the Sasquatch and his pal Tiernan Burke

You would simply not believe what we did to make this contest a special one. First, we flew our furry puppet star Coleman the Sasquatch in from his vacation in Peru via Learjet. Then we enlisted the help of our second oldest fan in the world, none other than the one and only Tiernan Burke. Finally, brace yourselves, our camera crew were allowed into the super secret Wump Mucket Puppets Head Quarters! It was amazing to see Terrence Burke’s “Desk/Mess”! It was so exciting we are still covered in goosebumps.

Here’s the video we made at Wump Mucket HQ:

Amazing stuff! We know that we can count on all our pals to help us reach this goal of 300 Facebook pals really soon. Please share this with all your friends as soon as you can. The suspense may keep us up all night wondering…

Wump Mucket Puppets kicks into high gear for 2013

What a week we are having at our super-secret headquarters! It’s been a fantastic week for us. All this activity is, well… FANTASTIC!

First, a HUGE thank you to Jim, Aretta, John, Sarah, and Lisa for taking the time to write letters of recommendation for my scholarship application to attend the 2013 National Puppetry Festival in August. Your kind words of praise were truly moving. I am very fortunate to know each of you.

G'Wazzl can't wait to introduce you to his new puppet pal!

I have been sworn to secrecy regarding the creation of a new puppet character that is joining our fun little troupe. The idea has been in my sketchbook for years, it’s about time that I bring this puppet to our stage. Be sure to come to our February 16th show to see our new puppet pal!

And last, but not least, the date has been confirmed for Cincinnati’s 2013 National Day of Puppetry celebration! Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 20th from 12 pm until 3 pm. Members of the Cincinnati Area Puppetry Guild will be presenting a fun packed afternoon of puppet shows, demonstrations, and displays about the history of puppetry in Cincinnati at Happen 4201 Hamilton Avenue in always happening Northside. You won’t want to miss this!

Wump Mucket Puppets wish everyone a very HAPPY New Year!

What a fab-tastic year 2012 has been for me and the puppet troupe. All of the activity has proven to me that there is definitely a place in the puppet universe for my style of silliness. Thanks to everyone who booked my show, laughed and clapped in the audience, interviewed me on television and radio, chatted on-line, rubbed elbows at puppetry guild meetings, or even recognized me around my neighborhood and elsewhere as “that puppeteer”. YOU made my year a great one. Let’s do it again in 2013! Puppets ROCK!

2012 was a remarkable year for Wump Mucket Puppets.

I performed the final show of the year last night for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati. It’s one of my favorite places to perform. Why? Read on…

I was about to bring all of my puppet gear into the children’s theatre when all of the guests and staff were exiting the building. The fire alarms had been set off inside due to smoke in the kitchen area, luckily no one was hurt and the situation was under control quickly. I am glad I was still wearing my Oscar the Grouch hoodie.

When everyone was allowed back inside, I set up the puppet stage and prepared to perform the show. Guests gradually entered the children’s theatre to see the show. Then it was showtime! Everything went well, the guests sang along to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, joined in for a few knock-knock jokes, and had some fun. During our post-show meet & greet the puppets met a few of the children in the audience and passed out coloring sheets (with a few extras for later).

I then began to pack up the puppets, sound equipment, and stage when a volunteer brought three children into the theatre. She told me that they were with a sibling who had just been admitted to Children’s Hospital and had driven from Portsmouth, Ohio, about a two hour drive from Cincinnati. The volunteer asked if I would bring the puppets back out for these children. I didn’t miss a beat and brought out Cyril for some friendly chit-chat and a tune. Coleman then shared a couple of his knock-knock jokes and talked about the Bengals with the two boys and The Reds with the young lady. Finally G’Wazzl barked “Jingle Bells” for the kids and wished them a good night and happy new year. They left the theatre with some of our coloring sheets and smiles on their faces.

Cyril and Coleman will be chatting about our big show on Fountain Square this coming Saturday, September 15th at 3pm and 5pm as part of the Live It Up Downtown event. The event is family friendly & FREE and open to the public. We hope you can join the fun!

If you are one of our many out of town fans, we hope to have a recording of our television appearance available for your viewing pleasure.

Performing our shows at Julian’s Deli in Loveland, Ohio (next show on 7/15 @ 2 pm!) has inspired me to create a new puppet character based on the one and only Loveland Frog! What? You’ve never heard of this strange creature? The Loveland Frog hasn’t been seen in many years, so I am writing a skit for the show titled “The Legend of the Loveland Frog” and hope to bring this little cryptid some long overdue recognition.

Here are a few sketches that Lara and I have come up with as we develop this new character for the puppet show.

And here is a short video with me working out the puppet’s voice with a snippet of a song:

The ball is rolling for this new puppet character, soon we’ll need a name. Any thoughts?

Who ever heard puppets on the radio? That’s preposterous! Perhaps, yet somehow it worked for Bob Smith and Edgar Bergen. Last night Wump Mucket Puppets made the leap from the puppet stage to the air waves on Cincinnati’s NPR radio station WVXU 91.7 FM.

Baby, if you’ve ever wondered, Wondered whatever became of me, I’m rockin’ with the puppets in Cincinnati, Cincinnati, WUMP.

Cyril at the WVXU FM studios

Don’t touch that dial! Wump Mucket Puppets are coming to a radio (or computer) near you! You read that right puppet pals, the Wump Mucket Puppets will be guests on Cincinnati radio station WVXU (91.7 FM) during the “Around Cincinnati” program that will be broadcast Sunday June 17th from 7 to 8 pm. Don’t worry if you miss the show, WVXU will have a mp3 archive of the program available on Monday June 18th.

Cyril, puppeteer Terrence Burke, and Coleman at WVXU FM

The puppets and I had a grand time being interviewed by host Lee Hay and hope that you will tune in to hear the program. Some of you may know that a few years before the puppets came into my creative life, I produced and hosted “Doctor 13’s Audio Lab” on Cincinnati’s community radio station WAIF FM from 1993 to 1999. It was fun to be back in a radio station again.